The “Magic Bike” offers all sorts of technical amenities
The French sports equipment manufacturer Decathlon is causing a stir among urban bike fans with an interesting study for a future product: the concept known as the “Magic Bike” is intended to offer commuters a veritable alternative to the car for the way to work and back comes with some new technical features that should set new standards in terms of comfort and safety. According to the presentation website for the new Magic Bike, the bike is aimed at hikers, explorers and athletes as well as commuters and those who simply want to contribute to environmentally friendly mobility.
Decathlon plans to equip the e-bike with a step-through comfort frame that can be fitted with modular luggage racks both at the front and at the rear. Depending on the situation, the owner of the bicycle can then decide where he wants which luggage carrier system and then dock it to the corresponding frame with just one click. In addition, information relating to the journey is shown on a display integrated into the stem. In addition to an integrated lighting system with wide headlights and a rear light, there is one outstanding feature: the Magic Bike is even supposed to have turn signals on the handlebar ends.
Features for increased security
When it comes to safety, Decathlon does not want to make any compromises. According to the Magic Bikes website, the French company also believes that smartphones will play a central role in the bicycle of the future: Thanks to smartphone connectivity, the Magic Bike should be unlocked automatically as soon as the user approaches the bike. As an alternative to a smartphone, wireless detection can also be based on a key. The lock is then reactivated by folding out the bicycle stand. This is integrated directly into the bike, so that if a Magic Bike is attempted to be stolen, an alarm would be triggered immediately.
Decathlon has also come up with something new for the brakes: instead of two, the Magic Bike is to be equipped with just one brake lever that acts on both wheels. As the Urban Bike Magazin notes, this concept will hardly be feasible on the German market, since the legislator prescribes two brakes that work independently of each other.
Simplified charging
Decathlon is also going in a new direction with the battery. Although this is integrated into the down tube according to an already known concept and can also be removed from it, there are still two special features. On the one hand, the battery charger is directly integrated, so that no additional charger is required if you want to charge the Magic Bike’s battery on the go. On the other hand, the battery has a modular structure and consists of a total of three individual modules, each of which should ensure a range of 30 km. When fully loaded, the battery should be able to carry the driver up to 120 km. According to the website, the electric motor allows a speed of up to 25 km/h, which means that the Magic Bike is actually a pedelec. According to the study, an automatic transmission is planned, in which the shifting takes place automatically and based on the pedaling frequency.
Thomas Weschle / Editor finanzen.net
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